Attachments
- Appeal : MDRSS014
- IFRC Secretariat Funding requirements: CHF 5 million
- Federation-wide Funding requirements: CHF 9 million(1)
- Glide : XX-2014-123456-XXX
- People affected: 735,000 people
- People to be assisted: 300,000 people (41% of current affected population)
- DREF allocation: CHF 1 million
- Appeal launched: 17/10/2024
- Appeal ends: 30/06/2025
SITUATION OVERVIEW
Heavy rains since May this year, combined with overflowing Lake Victoria, have caused the Nile River to burst its banks and threaten unprecedented flooding, submerging villages and farmland.
As of 12 September(2) , the situation is critical with more than 735,000 people affected in 38 of the 78 counties.
The floods have and will continue to cause extensive damage to homes and to devastate livestock and crops. Critical infrastructure has been severely damaged, cutting off supply routes and leaving communities without access to essential services such as health care and education for displaced people. The risk of disease outbreaks (particularly cholera and malaria) has increased significantly.
Displaced people are sheltering with relatives, in public buildings such as schools and churches, or in the open along roadsides. There are reports of increasing cases of malaria, respiratory infections, acute watery diarrhoea and snake bites.
Exacerbated by current flooding, many communities in flood-prone areas of Jonglei, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, Upper Nile, and Warrap states are projected to face extreme food insecurity, with some areas reaching IPC 5 levels(3). These regions host large numbers of IDPs and returnees, further compounding the challenges faced by these populations.
Flooding will have a particularly severe impact on communities that are already highly vulnerable following previous shocks. The impact of the 2024 floods is likely to be exacerbated by ongoing insecurity and conflict, previous successive flooding and limited access to basic services and high levels of food insecurity. Consecutive shocks have resulted in protracted displacement and complex humanitarian conditions in most of the above vulnerable areas. The cost-of-living crisis will also exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.
It's expected that the peak of the floods is yet to come. Scenarios suggest around 3.3 million people could be affected by October 2024, making it the worst flooding on record. This includes communities still recovering from the devastating floods of 2019-2022, which displaced at least 1 million people.
The South Sudan Red Cross has been preparing for and responding to these floods on the ground since May 2024. They have supported community preparedness and early action activities such as clearing waterways, maintaining drainage channels and managing solid waste.
They had already pre-positioned non-food items in strategic locations, based on available internal resources, to ensure rapid access to relief items in the event of flooding (Wau, Bor, Bentiu, Juba). The South Sudan Red Cross have also supported the evacuation of communities from flood-prone areas to temporary "safe havens" and evacuation centres.
The South Sudan Red Cross requested support from partner National Societies and was allocated a DREF(4) on 1 August to support the scale-up of early action.
To date South Sudan Red Cross has reached over 34,500 with emergency services as follows:
- Leading search, rescue, and evacuation of people currently affected by floods in Aweil, Old Fangak, Maiwut, and Rumbek. (numbers evacuated to date: 2,397 households (14,382 individuals).
- Multi-purpose cash assistance to 1,430 households (8,580 individuals) was completed in Juba while 3,950 households are currently under distribution in different affected parts.
- Distribution of food to seven hundred households (4,200 individuals).
- Distribution of WASH NFIs to nine hundred HHs (5,400 Individuals) in Old Fangak (EHIs and WASH NFIs). NFIs of 2,830 Households (16,980 individuals) are currently under distribution bringing total reach with NFIs to 3,730HHs.
- Rehabilitation of forty-one hand pumps in four locations to improve access to safe and clean drinking water.
- Rehabilitation of dykes and clearing of drainages in one location (Old Fangak).
- Setup of 3 surface water treatment plants ongoing in Aweil, Renk, and Old Fangak.
- Risk Communication and community engagement (RCCE) orientation of volunteers in Aluakluak Payam, Maiwut, Old Fangak, and Aweil areas reaching 2,115 people.
There is an urgent need to scale up activities. Through this Emergency Appeal, the IFRC is requesting funds to enable the South Sudan Red Cross to scale up its ongoing lifesaving and response activities and to support further early action to mitigate the expected escalation of the current flooding.
South Sudan Red Cross is participating in coordination forums at all levels (state flood taskforce and national flood taskforce). The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, in line with the role of the South Sudan Red Cross as an auxiliary to the government, has requested the South Sudan Red Cross to assist in providing support to the affected population.
TARGETING
This Emergency Appeal seeks support to target the most vulnerable and worst affected 300,000 people (41% of 735,000 peope affected so far) in the 38 affected counties and seven states (Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, Western Bahr el Ghazal, Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile, Central and Eastern Equatoria). This Emergency Appeal aims to support the Joint Flood Preparedness and Response Plan developed by the Government of South Sudan, the UN and partners to assist 2.4 million people. It identifies 20 high-risk counties in the states of Warrap, Upper Nile, Unity, Jonglei/Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Lakes, Central Equatoria and Northern Bahr el Ghazal as priority areas for intervention.
In coordination with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group, the South Sudan Red Cross will target households that have been displaced, lost their homes and immediate sources of livelihood. Priority will be given to households where the combined effects of prolonged food insecurity and flooding have particularly affected women and girls, as well as the elderly and persons with disabilities. The selection of priority districts is based on pre-existing exposure, vulnerability and historical occurrence of floods and related secondary disasters. The impact of flooding in 2024 is likely to be exacerbated by ongoing insecurity and conflict, previous successive floods and limited access to basic services.
The South Sudan Red Cross will integrate Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) and Protection, Gender and Inclusion (PGI) into all operations to further refine targeting at the household level, with increased attention to the most vulnerable and at-risk groups. These include extended households with pregnant and lactating mothers and/or children under five; households caring for the elderly or terminally ill with HIV/AIDS or other chronic diseases; households headed by children or adolescents; households with special social protection needs; persons with disabilities; and internally displaced households.
(1) The Federation-wide funding requirement encompasses all financial support to be directed to the South Sudan Red Cross Society in response to the emergency. It includes the South Sudan supporting Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies (CHF 4 million), as well as the funding requirements of the IFRC Secretariat (CHF 5 million). This comprehensive approach ensures that all available resources are mobilized to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the affected communities.
(2) South Sudan: Flooding Situation Flash Update No. 3 (As of 12 September 2024)
(3) Faminel Eary Warning Systems Network
(4) https://adore.ifrc.org/Download.aspx?FileId=839615